4-star Donovan Johnson - Basketball
Reading an article, came across interesting one about Donovan Johnson (brother of Cam who just finished at UNC). He’s a 4-Star, 49th overall in 2020 class. Seems like forward who can shoot. JB and staff were on him, but now Horward is as well.
Here’s the interesting part - Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) ruled him ineligible to play his senior season at Moon Area High School because Johnson repeated eighth grade.
Now, he's not only being recruited by colleges — but also by prep schools such as Spire Academy, Sunrise Christian and Hillcrest Prep, among others. A potential re-classification to the class of 2019 remains on the table, too.
Michigan has two open scholarship remaining for the upcoming season, but hasn't discussed re-classification yet with Johnson. Sounds like Horward is open to discussing this with him after some Peach jam event.
Coukd we still grab this kid for 2019!?! That would be fantastic. We are probably the only top school that could get him locked in for this year. Says UNC is out of spots. Matt D, you got any intel on this one?
Yes please! It would be fantastic to add more players that can play at 2/3, especially a talented one like him.
Edit: After looking at some articles about him for a few minutes, I found a couple from yesterday that say that Johnson has decided to stay in the 2020 class.
betting this is a lonshot, but kid can SHOOT shoot.
There's an article out that says he and his family decided on Wednesday that he would stay in the 2020 class and not reclassify to 2019.
There is nothing in that profile that even remotely mentions Michigan.
Edit: Well shit it's in the second link.
My apologies
As I understand it, Johnson himself has said there is only a very slim chance that he even could reclassify, which makes sense I think. I don't really understand how it would work academically.
I just don't see how someone could decide in mid-July whether they are going to college next month or going back for another year of high school. I know that kids reclassify sometimes, but the timing here seems crazy, doesn't it?
There are ways if people wanna facilitate. I was 1 math class short the night before graduating high school. I took the class online in about 16 hours of non stop work.
At what point did your rap career take off?
shortly after completing that math class, i expect.
Bummer. That could’ve been a great late addition.
UNC is never out of spots. They have their own rules.
Yes, I was thinking that if he really had trouble with 8th grade, UNC would be the perfect spot for him to take it again four years in a row.
......I'm pretty confident that the cognitive linguistics, abstract algebra, russian literature, formal languages and automata, and representation theory in particle physics classes I took at UNC were harder than anything you took at Michigan.
"Yeah but you're not an athlete." OK and how many athletes does Michigan have that are majoring in "general studies"?
Is this the nerd equivalent of internet tough guy talk?
j/k
This is an odd hill to stand on buddy. Yes UNC obviously has classes that are hard. UNC also have been cheating like mofo's and not making their 'student' athletes go to any classes, not even GS ones.
Maybe find something different to be incensed about... ?
Yeah but did you? You can thank your university for introducing this doubt in exchange for some basketball wins.
The population of athletes in those classes was not proportionately greater than the population of athletes in the student body.
Now, fraternity brothers were a different story....
Apparently your education did not include logic.
Woah, get a grip, dude.
I would list the classes I took at UM and in grad school that would make your list look quite elementary but luckily I was able to avoid being a massive dbag.
Ah yes clearly I am the massive dbag here, not the guy making jokes about the fact that a recruit had to repeat 8th grade.
You realize that the only reason UNC got away without sanctions is that the athletes and general student population were allowed to take the same bullshit "classes", thus there was no special treatment for the athletes? That's great that you took hard classes, but you should be pissed off that people at the same school as you may have gotten the same degree as you without doing anything nearly as difficult.
Your confidence is unwarranted. :)
I kind of feel like it'd be douche-y to list my undergrad courses, research, and publications here and why you're so wrong, but... you are. Maybe I'll say that undergrad at UM I was Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Pi Sigma, and graduated with a BA Physics with High Honors. So yeah I took particle physics too, except that Michigan's Physics department is consistently ranked top 15 US while your UNC's physics department struggles to break into the top 50.
So basically I think you picked the wrong guy to pick on with your academic bullshit. Was it because I'm a teacher?
No, it's not because you're a teacher, it's because you're a teacher cracking jokes about how a student -- and potential recruit -- had to repeat the 8th grade. You have absolutely no clue what was going on in that young man's life at that time. Some teacher you are.
"So basically I think you picked the wrong guy to pick on with your academic bullshit." Look in the mirror, shithead.
P.S. As long as we're measuring our physics dicks, I didn't say particle physics -- I said representation theory in particle physics, which is more of a mathematics course.
Id defintely take him in either 2019 or the 2020 class. The silver lining of Beilein leaving is it appears Howard is a much better recruiter.
That very well may end up being true, but it would be good to at least see his first class before deciding
Don't be swayed by the number of offers to 5 and 4-star kids flying out the door. If Howard can't close, then he might not be as good a recruiter as Beilein.
Might be a bit early to evaluate Howard as a recruiter. Beilein was an outlier in a sordid profession who had been practicing recruiting for 30 years before he came to Michigan, he was never going to be in the middle of the Bell curve. It’s gonna take a while for Juwan to get the hang of it, but I do like what appears to be a high level of sincerity and integrity. That’s a trait I would like to see in common with Beilein.
I love the Howard hire and I think that he may end up being a great recruiter, I just don't see what you are seeing to say "it appears Howard is a much better recruiter".
Howard is in on this kid, because of Beilein. He was able to close the deal on Wagner, because of Beilein. Howard has made offers to top 10 kids, which I think many of us like to see, but those are only offers. There is nothing that has appeared to demonstrate that Howard is a better recruiter, let alone much better. Just sayin'.
I mean, his ability to lock down Wagner despite recruiting him for only a short period of time is pretty damn impressive. Yes Wagner loved the program because of Beilein, but the new coach had to still convince him to come play for him.
I wasn't suggesting that he shouldn't get credit for that, but Wagner still took his official, without a head coach even being in place. I think that Howard will be a great recruiter, maybe better than Beilein, because he'll go after higher ranked guys without fear of early departure. However, Beilein is responsible for the runway that Howard brought the 2nd Wagner down on, so I don't think that it's a good example of Howard being "better".
The chute opened and we jumped.
Okay, I'll bite...
He repeated eighth grade and yet is a viable candidate for admissions?
That was might first though as well. Even if he has been a stellar student ever since he repeated the eighth grade it would mean admitting a student that never completed his senior year of high school.
Unless he has been taking advanced placement courses all throughout high school I dont see how he could skip 12th grade and still qualify to be admitted at Michigan.
I mean, maybe he just didn’t give a fuck that year or whatever but ..... yea I was thinking the same thing as well.
I have no idea whether this applies to Johnson or not, but when a high level HS athlete repeats 8th grade, my assumption is that it has nothing to do with academics. I don't think it's as common as it used to be, but this was often a strategic move to give kids a competitive advantage by being more physically developed than their peers. Doing this specifically for 8th grade allows the kid to develop with one set of peers as long as possible before bumping him down to compete with kids a year younger just before it impacts actual HS level academics or athletics.
Agreed. This is unlikely to be academic. 8th grade is typically when kids reclass for athletic purposes.
I vaguely remember a ND QB doing this, I think it was Jimmy Clausen. His parents wanted him to be one of the top QBs in his graduating class. I guess it's one way to try to get out of paying for expensive tuition.
PA changed the rules on this several years ago. Now it says between 7th and 12th grade an athlete has a limited number of years eligibility. I haven't read the statute in a few years.
To get around it many shady schools encourage parents of athletically gifted kids to repeat 5th grade. The one local school fielded a team of 5 red shirts with one having also been held back in 8th grade.
he was held back so that they could win the city 8th grade basketball championship back to back, would be my guess...... j/k
I have no intel on Johnson’s recruitment.
I’m not huge on Johnson from an evaluation standpoint. Much like Franz, Johnson is good shooter with size that lacks athleticism and cannot create shots off the dribble. I also see him as a stretch 4 type, much like Franz.
Franz>Johnson tho right?
Franz as a stretch 4? Maybe in the NBA eventually but hopefully not at Michigan or at the very least not next year. I get that he's tall, but if Wagner is getting serious run at the 4 this year, I think something will not be going according to plan.
Why do you say that?
Because, realistic or not, most people here seem to think Franz is the savior at the 2 guard spot.
See him playing a bunch at the 2 is where I would get worried.
That seems to be an assumption on your part. I never said he would be a savior at the 2. I think his most natural position is 3, but roster construction and team needs may dictate he plays elsewhere. The reason I say something has probably gone wrong is that if Wagner is playing heavy minutes at the 4, and assuming Teske stays healthy and takes most of the minutes at the 5, then you probably have Castleton, John and perhaps Livers not getting significant minutes. If he is at the 2 or 3 then he's taking minutes from Brooks, Nunez and Bajema (?) -- something I think to be expected given profiles and past performance.
That's reasonable.
opportunities are fleeting
Who is Horward and can he be trusted?
I coukdn't tell you.
Definition: My girlfriend left me, it’s Friday night, I am depressed. I guess i’ll climb in the car and drive to East Lansing. Yes, I am headed horward.